SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea said, possibly in a sign of defiance of recent moves by Washington and Seoul to step up their nuclear deterrent plans against North Korean threats.

South Korea’s chiefs of staff said the missile was fired from an area near the North Korean capital Pyongyang at around 10:38 p.m. and traveled 570 kilometers (354 miles) before landing in the sea.

The South Korean military said it was sharing the launch information with the United States and Japan to further analyze the details while maintaining readiness for the possibility of further North Korean military activity. She criticized the launch as a “clear violation” of UN Security Council resolutions that ban North Korea from using ballistic technologies.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula are at their highest in years as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accelerates the expansion of his nuclear and missile programs and flaunts an escalating nuclear doctrine that allows the preemptive use of nuclear weapons.

The United States, South Korea and Japan have responded by increasing the visibility of their trilateral partnership in the region and stepping up their joint military exercises, which Kim condemns as rehearsals of invasion.

North Korea’s latest launch came following high-level security talks between American and South Korean officials over the weekend in Washington, where they agreed on plans to update their nuclear deterrence and contingency strategies and incorporate nuclear operational scenarios into their joint military exercises next summer deal with evolving threats to the North.

Shortly after the launch, North Korea’s Defense Ministry issued a statement condemning Washington and Seoul’s move to include nuclear operation scenarios in their joint exercises, calling it an open threat of the possible use of nuclear weapons against the North and promising but not specifying to prepare “offensive countermeasures”. ”

The North Korean ministry also criticized the United States for deploying increasingly large military assets to South Korea, including strategic bombers and nuclear submarines, as a show of strength, which it said posed a “ruthless military threat” to the region destabilize.

The ministry did not mention the rocket launch.

South Korea has demanded stronger assurances from the United States that it will use its nuclear capabilities quickly and decisively to defend its ally in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.

The North has fired more than 100 missiles since early 2022, as Kim used the distraction of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to accelerate the expansion of his military nuclear program, which he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival.

The weapons North Korea has tested in recent months have included intercontinental ballistic missiles that had a potential range of as far as the U.S. mainland, as well as a series of launch events that the North described as simulated nuclear attacks on targets in South Korea.

Last month, North Korea also launched its first military reconnaissance satellite, which Kim described as crucial for monitoring U.S. and South Korean military activities and amplifying the threat posed by its nuclear-capable missiles.

Washington and its allies have also raised concerns about a possible arms alliance between North Korea and Russia. They fear Kim is providing much-needed munitions to help Russian President Vladimir Putin wage a war in Ukraine in return for Russian technological help to upgrade his nuclear-armed military.

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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to the report.